Saturday, December 5, 2015

Jaime Martell has reached his first final on the World Racquetball Tour (WRT) with a win over Christian Longoria, 15-4, 15-11, in the semi-finals of the Monterrey Open in Monterrey, Mexico. Martell played steady in the semi, and was never really threatened by Longoria until late in game two, when Longoria match the score close at 14-11.

But Martell was able to get the serve back at 14-11 after Longoria blew up a backhand shot that skipped before even getting to the dashed line. On the next rally, Longoria hit a forehand shot that was a big skip, and gave the match to Martell in two straight games.

In the final, Martell will face 3rd seed Andree Parrilla, who beat Edson Martinez, 15-13, 15-6, in the other semi-final.

Regardless of who wins on Sunday a new WRT Champion will be crowned, as neither Martell or Parrilla have won a WRT event in their young careers. Parrilla could get “the double” Sunday by winning both singles and doubles, as he’s also in the doubles final. Parrilla and David Horn beat 4th seeds Fernando Rios and Jose Daniel Ugalde, 15-8, 15-13, in the semi-finals. Parrilla and Horn will play 2nd seeds Jake Bredenbeck and Christian Longoria in the final, as Bredenbeck and Longoria squeaked past 6th seeds Ruben Estrada and David Ortega, 15-8, 13-15, 11-8.

You can see the final live from Monterrey via the WRT website. The final will be at noon Sunday.